Twitter Reactions: St Kitts and Nevis seal playoffs birth banking on Gayle and Lewis

In a high-scoring Caribbean Premier League (CPL) thriller on Monday (according to Windian time), St Kitts and Nevis Patriots registered their name for the playoffs, beating another top favourite team to make it to the last 4, Jamaica Tallawahs. It is true that nowadays ‘Gayle storm’ isn’t witnessed often, but when it does, the opposition team faces a topsy-turvy ride.

Alongside Gayle, in-form opener Evin Lewis also took the Tallawahs for a ride here at the Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts. Winning the toss, Sangakkara decided to test the batting ability of the opposition first, as captains usually tend to do in a T20 encounter. He had no idea that Gayle has saved his best for his former team and Lewis will also try to better Gayle’s smashing.

The end result was that fireworks started from both ends as the scoreboard handler hardly had any rest. When the first wicket fell in the form Lewis, Tallawahs were already at 110 and not even 13 overs were bowled. Another hard hitter Carlos Brathwaite was handed a promotion in the batting order, observing the progress of the game. Brathwaite too was not willing to settle and accelerated from the word go.

He was succeeded by another all-rounder Mohammad Nabi and it seemed that the Patriots’ batters are having an inside competition, as Nabi bettered Brathwaite’s strike rate of 200. The Afghanistan all-rounder was dismissed after a fiery knock of 29 runs from just 12 deliveries, as Brandon King came with just one ball to spare. But King fetched maximum runs from the last ball by hitting a six, thereby ending Patriots’ innings at 208/3, as Gayle remained unbeaten.

The start of Tallawahs’ innings came as a ray of hope as it seemed that they won’t be surrendering without fighting till the last ball. But Trevor Griffith and Glenn Phillips were dismissed in quick succession and the rest of the batting lineup couldn’t provide much of a fight. Rovman Powell and Andre McCarthy tried their bit, but it wasn’t enough to pull off the massive 209-run target set by the home side.

Tallawahs’ innings finished at 171/7, as Gayle & Co. became the second team to register their name in the playoffs after Trinbago Knight Riders. Though not in this match, the Jamaican side has a great chance of making it to the playoffs, if a miracle is not waiting for the spectators. As of the fourth spot, it should be a contest between Barbados Tridents and Guyana Amazon Warriors. Amazed by what they’ve witnessed, Twitterati poured their emotions in their tweets.

Here are some top tweets from the match